Leaning device to reduce fatigue



Nov. 11, 1969 s. BEREDAY 3,477,673

LEANING DEVICE TO REDUCE FATIGUE Filed Feb. 5, 1967 AT'ITORNEYS UnitedStates Patent US. Cl. 248.-121 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREApparatus having a soft platform on which a person stands and bodysupporting element against whlch he may lean while in a standingposition to reduce fatigue.

The present invention relates to a body-supporting device and moreparticularly to a device against which a person may lean to reducefatigue.

A person when not walking, running, etc. is in either one or the otherof the four positions of sitting, lying, kneeling or standing. To reducefatigue, chairs are used to support the body when persons are sitting,beds and couches when they are lying down, and benches when they arekneeling. However, nodevices have ever been provided to at leastpartially support the body when a person is standing.

It is well known that professional people and craftsmen, such asdentists, draftsmen, housewives, bench workers and the like, becomefatigued from standing. However, it is considered necessary that thesepeople stand while practicing their particular occupation so that theywill have a longer reach than they would have in a sitting position. Ithas heretofore been proposed that such people use stools which supportthe body in a partially upright position to reduce fatigue. Stools,however, are not entirely successful, because they are merely tallchairs, limit the extent of the persons reach and are apt to impairblood circulation in the thighs of the body.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide abody-supporting device against which a person in a standing position maylean, either continuously or from time to time, to reduce fatigue.

Another object is to provide a leaning device of the type indicatedwhich may be adjusted to contact different areas of the body fordifferent working positions which may produce fatigue.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a leaning device ofthe type indicated which is of simple and compact construction,economical to manufacture and one which is reliable in operation toreduce fatigue.

These and other objects will become more apparent from the followingdescription of the drawing in which like reference characters denotelike parts throughout the several views. It is to be expresslyunderstood, however, that the drawing is for the purpose of illustrationonly and is not a definition of the elements of the invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a leaning device of the presentinvention and showing the platform on which a person stands and thevertically adjustable bodysupporting element against which the personmay lean;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the leaning device illustrated inFIGURE 1;

FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 2 toshow the bolt and hand-operated nut for adjusting the height of thebody-supporting element;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4--4 of FIG. 2 to show thepivotal connection between the platform and stanchion on which thebody-supporting element is mounted;

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FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing how the device can be used tocontact other areas of the body, such as the back of the knees; and

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing how the leaning device of thepresent invention can be used to contact the front of the body.

Referring now to the drawings, the invention is shown as comprising aplatform 10, an upright stanchion 11 and body-supporting element 12. Theplatform comprises a frame of metal or other rigid material having aperipheral band 13 with ends 14 and 15 projecting rearwardly in spacedparallel relation. Mounted on the top of the platform 10 is a cushion 16of a relatively soft material, such as natural or artificial foamrubber, with an overlying covering. The cushion 16 should be soft enoughto conform to the contour of the persons feet to utilize all areasthereof to support him in a standing position rather than particularpoints of contact as when a person stands on a fiat rigid floor.

The stanchion 11 projects upwardly from one side of the platform 10. Tothis end, the lower portion of the stanchion 11 is positioned betweenthe spaced rearwardly projecting ends of the frame band 13 to which itis attached. In the illustrated embodiment, the lower end of thestanchion 11 is pivotally connected to the platform 3 by a pin 20extending through the rearwardly projecting ends 14 and 15 andstanchion. This permits pivotal movement of the stanchion forwardly tooverlie the platform, see FIGURE 4, when the device is being shipped,and allows it to swing to its upright position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2when used. A second pin 21 extends through the rearwardly extending ends14 and 15 of the platform 13 at a position forwardly of the pin 20 forengagement by the depending end of the stanchion 11 to limit its rockingmovement rearwardly of the platform.

The stanchion 11 is flexible to provide a yielding resistance tomovement and is adjustable to vary the height of the body-contactingelement 12. For this purpose the stanchion 11 may be made of a resilientmaterial such as steel to provide the desired flexibility and may have aslot through which a bolt from the body-contacting device extends toadjust the height of the latter. However, in the illustrated embodiment,the stanchion 11 is shown as comprising separate telescoping parts 22and 23. The lower part 22 may be of relatively rigid construction andprovided with a centrally positioned guideway 24 therein (see FIG. 3) inwhich the upper section 23 is adapted to slide. The upper section 23, onthe other hand, is flexible and has a longitudinal slot 25 through whicha bolt 26 extends to clamp the two parts in any adjusted position bymeans of a hand-nut 27.

The body-supporting element 12 may be mounted to rock on the stanchion11 or may be resiliently mounted thereon to flex relative thereto. Inthe form shown, however, it is rigidly mounted on the stanchion section23 adjacent its upper end by means of a stud 30 projecting rearwardlyfrom the element through a hole in the stanchion section. The stud 30may be in the form of a bolt which is attached to the stanchion section23 by means of a nut, or it may be permanently attached to the sectionas by riveting. The body-supporting element 12 may be formed of a rigidmaterial which conforms to the shape of a particular part of the bodywhich it contacts but usually it will comprise a soft cushion which Willautomatically conform to the contour of the body.

The platform 10 as shown is adapted to rest directly on the floor, butit will be understood that the platform may have casters to adapt it toroll to different areas where it is to be used. It will also be notedthat the weight of the person standing on the platform counterbalancesany force applied to the body-supporting element 12 to maintain thedevice inan'upright position under all conditions of use. This isbecause the center of gravity of the person will always be inside of theconnection of the stanchion 11 to one side of the platform 10. One formof the invention having now been described in detail, its mode ofopeartion is now explained.

When using the device, a person releases the hand nut 27 and raises orlowers the sections 23 of the stanchion 11 with respect to the part 22so that it will be located at an area of the body where the personwishes it to contact as, for example, in the middle of his back. Thismay be done easily by reaching downwardly and backwardly to grasp andrelease nut 27 with one hand while adjusting the sections 23 with theother hand. After the section 23 has been adjusted with respect tosection 22 the nut is tightened. The person then stands on the platformand the cushion 16 conforms to the contour of his shoes to distributehis weight equally on all areas of his feet. The person may then leanback against the body-contacting element 12 which partially supports hisbody to relieve the tension on his muscles usually employed to hold himin an upright standing position. He may then perform his occupationalduties such as, for example, sorting letters in various compartments,and he may lean forward from the body-contacting element 12 to reach aparticular compartment, or he may actually move his whole body forwardlyaway from the element 12 to reach a particular area. In either case, theleaning device of the present invention will yieldingly support at leasta portion of a persons body either continuously, or from time to time.

During use of the leaning device, the section 23 of the stanchion 11flexes to give the resilient support required by the body. As a resultof this device, workers have found that they are less fatigued at theend of any particular work period, than they are when they must stand inan upright position to perform their duties.

Many times it is desirable to support other parts of the body than theback to reduce fatigue while performing the duties of a particularoccupation. For example, it is many times desirable to have thebody-contacting element 12 adjusted to engage the person using thedevice at the back of his thighs, as shown in FIG. 5. As other times theexact reverse is true, and it is desirable to have the body-contactingelement 12 engage the front of the knees. At other times the particularoccupation may require that the body-contacting element 12 engage thefront of the body above the waist as, for example, at the abdomen, asshown in FIG. 6. Tests in all of these various positions have been madeand found to reduce the fatigue normally experienced by persons in theiroccupational duties where standing is normally required.

It will now be observed that the present invention provides abody-supporting device against which a person may lean eithercontinuously, or from time to time, to reduce fatigue. It will also beobserved that the present invention provides for adjusting the devicefor different conditions to adapt it to contact different portions ofthe body. It will still further be observed that the present inventionprovides a leaning device of the type indicated which is simple andcompact construction, economical to manufacture and. one which isreliable in operation in reducing fatigue. 1

While a single embodiment of the invention is herein illustrated anddescribed, it will be understood that changes may be made in theconstruction and arrangement of elements without departing from thespirit or scope of the invention.

1. A leaning device on which a person may stand and lean to reducefatigue while working, said device comprising a platform on which aperson may stand in an erect position, a rigid stanchion projectingupwardly from the platform at one side thereof and of a person standingthereon, an elongated resilient clement mounted on said stanchion forvertical sliding movement in respect thereto, said element havingmounted thereon a member having a relatively large essentiallyvertically disposed convexly contoured surface of a size and shape toengage comfortably the body of a person using said device, and fasteningmeans for selectively locking said element to said stanchion to maintainsaid member at a desired vertical position.

2. A leaning device according to claim 1 wherein the top of saidplatform and said member are provided with cushions.

3. A leaning device according to claim 1 wherein said element is intelescoping relation to said stanchion and said fastening meanscomprises a bolt extending through said element and stanchion and ahand-operated nut for tightening the bolt.

4. A leaning device according to claim 1 wherein said stanchion ispivoted to said platform and swingable to a position substantiallyparallel to said platform, and a stop is provided to limit movement ofsaid stanchion away from said platform to approximately References CitedUNITED STATES PATENTS 530,880 12/1894 Briggs 29729 6 X 1,065,022 6/1913Bell 2484l3 2,431,669 11/1947 Nemeth 248-4l3 2,757,388 8/ 1956 Chisholm53 17 2,963,713 12/1960 Forrest 53 17 2,975,435 3/1961 Forrest 53 173,141,253 7/1964 Bartram 248 X ROY D. FRAZIER, Primary Examiner F.DOMOTOR, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R.-

